


Pausing to Clarify

by scy



Category: Smallville
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Talking things out might be enough to set up the next move</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pausing to Clarify

**Author's Note:**

> This follows Subtracting Indecision and Gathering Debris

Even having spent months working with Bart, who thought heading to the nearest country for a snack was a reasonable way to expend energy, Oliver wasn't completely unmoved when he saw Clark unblur and come to a halt beside him on the steps of the Queen Industries building.

"I'd ask if there was much traffic, but that's not such a problem, given how fast you travel," Oliver commented.

"No, there wasn't any," Clark agreed.

"Come inside," Oliver said and led the way into the lobby and pressed the button for the elevator. He lived on the top floor, after all some obvious decisions had to be played out fully and he saw Clark look from side to side as Oliver placed his hand on the panel beside the door.

"Does anyone else live here?" Clark asked.

"Not at present," Oliver said.

The computer scanned his bone structure and fingerprints and then granted him access to the apartment.

"You live above your company's offices?"

"I like my privacy, Clark. And I could do without a bunch of people asking where I go in the middle of the night."

"Say that you're meeting someone, what do you do?"

"That only works if you can bring them home." Oliver hadn't stopped seeing women, he just didn't make them a priority.

"Oh." Clark skipped disapproving of Oliver's social skills and waited to be shown inside.

"Put your coat over there," Oliver said, a wave of his hand encompassing the long row of coat hooks mounted over a marble bench set in a recessed area several feet past the doorway. It was ideal for storing guests' shoes and jackets and Oliver had been surprised to see the architect had added into the blueprint. He'd kept it because it helped to keep up appearances even if he had no intention of following through on its purpose often enough for it to matter.

Other than the entryway, Oliver had been careful to stipulate that the rest of the apartment's design be as far from his place in Metropolis as possible. He knew it could be seen as overdoing the distinctions that would be made about his life in Star City and the one he'd left behind, but it was important to what he was doing.

Clark glanced around and commented politely on the space.

"Really, Clark this isn't a walk through, do you think it's too much?" Oliver gestured to a table and chair set that were likely based on a teahouse design and that he hadn't made up his mind about.

"It doesn't seem like it," Clark said, not having endured the decorator's tirade, he didn't know what look had been intended.

"If you can stand it, then anybody can," Oliver replied.

"That's, uh, thanks?" Clark looked confused but was smiling faintly.

"Never mind," Oliver let Clark arrange himself on the couch and then he took a seat, propping his feet up on the table in silent defiance.

"Good to see you," Olive said amiably, for the moment not bringing up his knowledge that something was bothering Clark.

"You too." Clark leaned into the cushions as if he couldn't disintegrate them with a fist, like he hoped that they would support him and his burdens.

"What've you been up to?" Clark asked.

"You may have seen some of the headlines, LexCorp has been taking losses overseas, their unpleasant activities are being halted and the attention being paid to the company isn't what the Luthors would like."

"I've been reading the papers," Clark said.

"Then what do you want to know?"

"Unless they're willing to look hard, the reporters aren't going to have all the details, and besides, you didn't type out a manifesto for them to publish."

"I'm trying to stop Luthor or his company from hurting more people. His forays into genetic enhancement are gaining ground while his safety precautions are beyond lax. All of this is off the board, so it's been difficult to track down some of his operations."

"All of that and you still have time to challenge LuthorCorp openly. When do you take time off?"

"I have my methods of relaxing."

"I don't think I want to know about any of those," Clark said.

"Are you sure? You're one to talk about the job consuming your life."

"I don't have a job," Clark protested.

"Whatever, your calling."

"Is that the way it is with the Green Arrow?"

"I have resources and abilities that allow me to pursue criminals beyond what law enforcement can. It's something I can do, and more than that, it needs to be done."

"After all of those missions around the world you've become even more sure of yourself," Clark said.

"Is that a criticism?"

"No, it's good to hear."

"You're having trouble with that?"

"I've been thinking about it."

"Too much introspection will only depress you, Clark. There are better ways to handle these things." Oliver leaned over and opened the mini fridge positioned under a lamp table. He pulled out two bottles and offered one to Clark.

"I don't drink, really," Clark admitted.

"Still the good soon, even when nobody who cares is around," Oliver said. He twisted the top off his beer and took a small sip. It wasn't really his beverage of choice, but he'd given instructions that the place be stocked with a variety of foodstuffs and liquor. He took a second look inside the refrigerator and found a root beer, which Clark accepted.

"No, that's not it. I've gotten out of control a couple times, and I didn't like what it felt like afterwards."

"That sounds more like you got high, and went to a bad place." Oliver added, "Not everything you shouldn't do ends in a holding cell."

"There are worse things than jail," Clark said.

"For instance?"

"Hurting people you care about."

Clark sounded like he was talking about a mistake he'd learned from, but that last admission was too soft to be anything but recent.

"What happened?" Oliver knew that Clark wanted to talk to someone, he wouldn't have mention it otherwise, but he didn't think he should let on.

Clark looked down at his hands and twisted his fingers back and forth. "Lois and I got into some stuff, and then we crashed Lex and Lana's engagement party."

"You and Lois," Oliver said.

"Yeah," Clark said.

"How did that happen?"

"She got exposed to some chemical and it made her act weird."

"And somehow she slipped it to you?" Oliver asked.

"That's right."

"Through a form of contact that you think is going to make me mad, so you're trying to be diplomatic."

"Clark's shock was muted, as he smiled ruefully. "You're good at this stuff."

"Think I've got what it takes to be a great detective, Clark?" Oliver asked.

"I thought you were aiming for global peacekeeper," Clark said.

"I can't divide my time between the two?"

"I don't know many detective, but it seems like the ones in the movies have to know a lot about people," Clark said.

"And you're saying that I don't? Clark, once you've handled a boardroom of executives trying to protect their bonuses, you know how to read people," Oliver pointed out.

Clark shook his head. "It's not enough to know somebody's doing the wrong thing; you've got to know where the boundaries are."

"Mine?"

"Everyone's."

"Not everybody respects the rules, Clark, that's why there are prisons crammed full, and more people have the money to keep themselves out of jail."

"I'm not arguing that, Oliver."

"It sounded as if you were trying to."

"I just think you have to have limits."

"A no-fly zone?" Oliver asked. "Past this point the normal rules do not apply, is that what you're proposing?"

"It's a hypothetical situation," Clark said.

"One which you've thought about, I'm getting that." Oliver watched Clark stay in his seat where another man, less sure of his own mind, would have gotten up and tried to distract himself with movement.

"Is that where you spend your time, Clark?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're talking about throwing the usual methods out and accepting the uncommon; where do you fit into that?"

"We weren't talking about me."

"Not openly." Oliver could be vague and talk impressively around a subject for as long as he needed to, but Clark wasn't someone who had to be taught that.

"You don't want me to get mad because you and my ex-girlfriend got a little wild while you were high.," Oliver said.

"Aren't you?" Clark asked.

"I'm torn, it depends on how Lois is feeling." If she wasn't ignoring Clark again, then Oliver would know that the two of them had sped into the kind of relationship he predicted they could and he would be more upset than he'd admit, even if he wasn't there to see it happening.

"She's fine."

"Still talking to you?" Oliver asked.

"Lois didn't remember what she did after it wore off," Clark said.

"But you did." That was clear, and Clark seemed to know what was gong on in Smallville better than anybody, especially when it came to the weirder events.

"I wasn't affected the same way she was. Exactly."

"That's very unhelpful," Oliver said.

"Sorry."

"For what, specifically?"

"You don't sound surprised," Clark said, not repeating himself.

"Would you rather I be furious and shooting arrows at you?" Oliver asked. "Not that they'd hurt," he added, "but it's the thought that matters most."

"No, I wouldn't. And I'm really-"

"You feel extremely bad about it, but still, I'd like to know what caused it. Can you bring me a sample of the compound? I'd like to know it wasn't going to mass marketed under a LuthorCorp brand name."

"I talked to the woman selling the lip stick and she says she only offers it to people who really need it," Clark said.

"What that means is both less than reassuring and a future complication," Oliver told him.

"Meaning what?"

"That whatever prompted Lois to kiss you back, it's going to have far reaching ramifications."

"She didn't kiss me back, she kissed me first," Clark said in clarification.

"Not something I needed to hear, Kent, my ego is bruised and stinging already."

"I'm-"

"Sorry, yeah, I know you are, at least a little."

Clark looked offended, and Oliver went on. "It couldn't have been that bad to kiss Lois, and if you say it was, I really will shoot you. And if it didn't so much as crease your shirt, it would still make me feel better."

"Other than your confession, what made you speed over to Star City? There's been an open invitation since I left Smallville, what took you so long?"

"I've been dealing with stuff."

"Lois, Chloe, and Lana," Oliver said. "Any new women in your life or are those three enough for you?"

Clark frowned at Oliver. "I'm not dating any of them."

"No, but that doesn't mean you're not heavily involved in their lives. You're the one they can talk to, count on to help them when they don't want to hurt themselves over."

"That's not very nice."

"People don't always intend to use each other," Oliver said. "It's just habit."

"This is sounding like stuff I've been told before," Clark said.

"By your mother?" Oliver took in the reaction Clark didn't show and made a second guess. "Or by Lex."

"It could be either one, or both."

"If you're looking for me to hand over some wise insight about women, you're going to have to accept my admission that I don't how to have an honest relationship like you want to."

"With a woman," Clark qualified.

"What?"

"You've been honest with me, haven't you?"

"I meant romantically. We've always been more concerned with work."

"Apart from the time when you kissed me," Clark reminded.

"Not forgotten, I take it?"

"You never meant to be forgettable," Clark said.

"It's not who you are." He smiled teasingly. "The Green Arrow is way too showy for that."

"You've got me there," Oliver said. "It's that dramatics training showing itself. I was very good at acting out different parts."

"And what are you doing now?"

"Being a friend, in spite of you going after my ex." Oliver paused. "There's still a chance for me to get upset about it if you'd rather."

"No, thanks," Clark said.

"Alright, so we'll sit here, take a break and let the whole thing go."

Clark gave his bottle a measuring look and let it rest on his stomach, convinced enough to enjoy a respite, even a small one. He really had run to Star City in order to square things with Oliver, and his unwillingness to lie by omission about his relationships was a tendency Oliver wanted to continue, so he made his stance obvious.

"If you need to talk to someone, I want you to feel like you can call me," Oliver said. Not just for the stuff about Lois, he wanted to add, but thought Clark would first ask for more satellite imagery before wanting advice or sympathy.

"Even if Lois has gotten herself into a nest of carnivorous vines?" Clark asked.

"What?" Oliver couldn't see that happening, but if anyone would be able to track something like that down and insist on writing a story on it, his ex girlfriend would be the person.

"Never mind," Clark said.

"Is that one of those jokes that I would get if I'd grown up in Smallville?"

"Yeah." Clark smiled.

Oliver thought that Clark seemed less uneasy and decided that he'd been able to reassure him that nothing had been lost. He was looking forward to getting the other man into the field, to see what he could do when he didn't have to hold back. It wasn't the time yet; he was still adjusting to seeing a bigger picture, one that included more than Kansas. But when he did, there would be an entire world ready for him.


End file.
